Day by Day
by Lady Sichi
Summary: Sokka, Katara, and Aang are starting a new year at Ozai High. When they meet the new girl, Toph Bei Fong, their lives start to change. Sokka thinks for the better. Kataang/Tokka. AU fic. CHAPTER 3 UP!
1. Beginnings

Story: Day by Day  
Chapter 1: Beginnings  
Show: Avatar: The Last Airbender  
Pairings: Kataang/Tokka  
Summary: Sokka's first day of his junior year is not going as planned. But what if the new girl makes it all worth while?  
A/N: This is an AU fic, based on present US schools :) As for ages:  
Aang: 13 (freshman)  
Toph: 13 (junior)  
Katara: 15 (sophomore)  
Sokka: 16 (junior)  
And you probably can figure out the rest of the cast. Yes, Toph is a junior, but you will see why later. Enjoy:)

--

It was early; too early for Sokka.

The morning was crisp and refreshing compared to the hot basking sun he had been waking up to for the past couple of weeks. The sun peaked through the blinds of his window next to his bed. The alarm clock beeped simultaneously with Aang's cell phone, which was going off from his nightstand. Their door slammed open, causing Aang to jump up suddenly.

"Wake up you two! We need to leave in twenty minutes, and I refuse to be late for the first day of school!" Sokka heard his sister Katara scowl. She walked over and threw Sokka and Aang's comforters to the floor. Aang mumbled something, and slowly got up.

He rubbed his eyes and said, "I call shower." Sokka cussed under his breath and slowly got up, hoping to find some sort of edible food in the kitchen.

He poured himself a bowl of cereal as Katara opened the envelope containing her schedule. Having a natural curiosity, he walked slowly behind his sister to observe her new professors. "Oh man," she sighed.

"What?" Sokka asked. He sat down next to his sister, and started chowing down on his Corn Flakes. But Katara ignored him, and continued reading her schedule, most likely memorizing her class room numbers. He peered over her shoulder, and saw what she was looking at. "Aw man, you have _Pakku?_ That sucks beyond all belief sis."

Her frown deepened as she looked at the next teacher, "And _Zhao_? Could my schedule be any worse?"

Sokka stifled a laugh as he opened his own envelope and scanned his junior year schedule. "Yeah: you could have Iroh."

"What?" Katara raised her eyebrow, "Seriously, what are you talking about? He is the nicest teacher…"

"…that puts everyone to sleep." Sokka added with a big sigh. Katara just rolled her eyes and stood up.

"I'm going to go do my hair. You better be ready soon, because I'd hate to be late because you weren't done fixing _your_ hair."

--

So far, Sokka's day wasn't going as he had planned. Someone had taken his usual parking space. Then, the bell had rung right as the three set foot on the campus of Ozai High. Katara, as usual, blamed Sokka for the unfortunate event, and stormed off to her first class. Aang, being a freshman, pulled out a map of the school, and scanned it for his classroom. "Do you need help frosh?" Sokka teased.

Aang glared at the older boy, "I'm good, thanks. See you at lunch." Sokka waved and he too went off to navigate his first hour class, Language Arts.

Not wanting to be any later than he was, he jogged building after building, looking for the room. "After two years of going to this school, you'd think I'd know where this stupid room was." Sokka said and laughed to himself.

He entered the class, and looking at his watch, he calculated that he was two minutes late. Sensei Roku looked at Sokka and stopped his introduction speech. "Welcome. Take a seat quickly."

Sokka nodded and looked out at the class, looking embarrassed. The class was almost completely full, except for one seat in the back corner. He walked quickly to the vacant seat and sat down; hoping everyone in the class would stop staring at him.

"As I was saying," Roku continued, "This class is not going to be one that you can slack off. We will read literature that will challenge your mind, and we will write essays and stories that will cause you to think beyond the box. Now you will each receive this text book…"

And that's when Sokka stopped caring. He hated reading, especially out of boring text books. His eyes drifted to the girl next to him. She was petite, but she had a tough appearance. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and her clothes hung loosely around her tiny body. Black bangs hid her pale green eyes. Sokka was very confused. This girl didn't seem very old at all, and she defiantly did not look like a junior. She also didn't seem to be looking at anything, but almost in another world. _Could she see at all?_ He wondered.

"Enjoying the view?" she whispered to him.

Sokka gasped. He sat up straighter and looked forward. He quickly looked to the right of him; curious to if the girl was looking at him. But she was still staring out into space, but she had a big smirk on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Sokka whispered back.

The girl shook her head and rolled her eyes. She was about to comment back, when Sensei Roku walked to the back of the room to distribute the books. He handed Sokka one, but skipped the girl and said, "I'll give you your book after class Miss. Bei Fong." The girl smiled as Roku turned around and walked towards the front of the classroom.

Sokka's jaw dropped, "Bei Fong? As in Bei Fong Games? As in the biggest gaming company in the world?"

The girl blew a few strands of her hair out of her face and rolled her eyes, "Yeah. The one and only."

The boy was still shocked, "You are like, the richest girl in the whole world! What are you doing in this crappy public school?"

She glared at him and turned herself all the way around to face him, "I chose to go to this school. Why, do you have a problem with it?"

"Miss. Bei Fong and Mr. Sokka? Would you care to explain to the class what the homework is tonight?"

Sokka and the Bei Fong heiress turned to their teacher, and then looked around the class, as if searching for the answer. A boy looked at Sokka and mouthed, "Read the introduction."

"Read the introduction?" Sokka answered to Roku.

The elderly man nodded, but his face was still stern. "Next time, pay attention, so you won't have to use Shen as an answer." Sokka sank lower in his seat, hoping to turn invisible. And as if on cue, the bell rang.

But Sokka was not done talking to the rich girl quite yet. "Hey girl!" he ran after her after they exited the classroom.

"I have a name." she retorted, "And it's Toph. Toph Bei Fong. Who are you and what do you want?"

"My name's Sokka," he said and looked at her eyes again.

As if she knew what he was staring at, she said, "Yes, I'm blind, thanks for noticing."

His jaw dropped again, "But how, you-"

"Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I'm oblivious." She snorted and turned around to walk away.

But Sokka grabbed her arm and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Let's try this again." He put on his best goofy grin and said, "Hey, my name's Sokka! I'm a junior, and I noticed that you are new here. Do you need directions to your next class?"

Toph giggled a little, which Sokka thought was a little out of her character, "Okay Sokka. I'd actually love an escort to my next class." She shoved a sheet of paper into his hands, "That's my schedule. I have a great memory, but I wasn't really paying attention to my father's ramble this morning on my classes. What class do I have next?"

Sokka read her schedule, and pulled his out of his pocket to compare. "Hey, we have all of our classes together!"

She smiled, "That's convenient."

"For what?" he asked.

She blushed and frowned, "Nu—nothing. Just that it will be good for me, since I'm new and all."

"Oh yeah, right." He smiled and folded her schedule in his, and shoved it back into his pocket. "So, shall we continue on towards History?"

Toph gave a lopsided grin and exclaimed, "Onward!"

Sokka laughed as they started off towards the classroom. Maybe his morning wasn't so bad after all.

--

A/N: Mmm so I've been dying to write an Avatar AU fic :) This isn't a one shot, even though it kinda sounds like it. Please R R...or...Ozai will eat a kitten. THINK OF THE KITTENS.


	2. Meetings and Greetings

Story: Day by Day

Chapter 2: Meetings and Greetings

Show: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Pairings: Kataang/Tokka

Summary: It's Toph's first day of school, so let's switch to her point of view. As one of the richest girls in the world, she thinks she's got it all. But will a certain 'princess' put her in her place?

A/N: Yes! I wanted to introduce Azula early in the story cause I love writing her bitchyness. Anyways, to the chapter that you guys have been waiting for! (dundundunnn!)

---

Toph's POV

I've never had a problem with being blind.

Really, I kind of think it's my dad's problem, for having a daughter like me. I couldn't be like all of the rest of the little rich brats. For example, we went to a party once, right? And a girl that was about two years younger than me was playing the piano insanely well. So what does my dad do right as we get home? He calls a piano teacher.

And that's not all. He always pushed me to be someone I'm not, but someone he wants to be. Maybe he had childhood issues. But I barely know anything about my dad, so it doesn't matter.

My mom? She's even worse. She agrees to _everything_, and I mean everything my dad says. If he says I need to lose 20 pounds, then I should do so. If my bun is too tight, dad says, I need to fix it. Mom just nods and agrees. It's like she doesn't have a brain, just a function to bob the head up and down, or side to side. I just pray that I will never end up like her.

But you know what? This new school, has actually been good for me. I don't think my new friend Sokka knows, but he's my _first_ friend. I've been home-schooled ever since I was little. Grant it, it took my father a LOT of convincing to go to this school, but I can talk the talk. Somehow I think he was the easy one to convince compared to the principal. Letting a blind girl wander the halls of an excelling school? How preposterous!

I sighed just thinking about how much money my father must have 'donated' to get me in. But if I have learned one thing about being rich, is that nothing comes between you and your desire.

I turned my attention to making sure I didn't run into anything while walking besides Sokka. I could tell that he kept looking to the side to make sure I was doing okay. Silly boy, doesn't he know that I'm Toph Bei Fong? Nothing stands in my way!

Except for Azula.

I don't really know how I collided with her, considering Sokka was keeping his eye on me most of the time. But it happened. And I fell to the floor. Hard.

"Watch where you're going, frosh!" she spat at me. Oh no, she was _not_ getting away with this.

"You know, I'd love to, but it's kind of hard when your eyes don't work," I said in a sincere voice, then waving my hand in front of my face. Sokka was panicking for some reason, and he picked up my books quickly and helped me up. "Let's go Toph, she's not worth it..."

"Well, since you are new here, I'm guessing you don't know who I am," the mean girl smirked.

I smirked back, and replied, "Why, am I suppose to?"

She frowned, "Yes, you are. And I suggest you remember it, because your reputation hangs on it." Sokka pulled on my arm some more, but I wasn't finished.

"Okay Princess. Here's the deal. My name is Toph Bei Fong, heiress to the Bei Fong estate. This is my first day here at Ozai High, and I think I deserve respect for being at such a slimy school for such the nobel I am."

Sokka was really starting to freak out, and my arm was turning red from his hand tightening on it. Azula came forward to me, poked me in between my collar bones, and said quietly, but sharply, "My name is Azula, and my dad happens to be the principal. I would keep your big mouth shut if I were you." She straightened up, and as if she was talking to the crowd gathered around me, "I'm letting you off with a warning this time, _frosh_. But next time you speak out of term, you'll _regret it_."

And with that, her and her 'posse' turned around and went off to their classes. I unplanted my feet, and allowed Sokka to carry me off to our next class.

We arrived on time, which was amazing, considering the whole spiel in the hallway. After the teacher was done talking for the day, which since the class was drama, there wasn't a need for distributing books or anything like that. Kids got up from their seats and migrated to their group of friends. Sokka got up to do the same, but tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Hey, I'd like you to meet someone."

So I got up and walked over to where Sokka was sitting. He was sitting near a girl, who I could tell was older than me, but much more taller and slender built. Her hair was long, and while half was pulled up in a bun, the rest hung past her shoulders. She was adjusting her makeup when Sokka said, "Hey Katara? This is my new friend Toph. Toph? This is my little sister Katara." Katara stopped looking in her mirror to look at me. It took her a while before she said anything, in which I decided she was trying to determine if I was blind or not. That, or I was just odd looking to her.

"Hey Toph. Nice to meet you," she held out her hand for me to shake, and I knew this was some sort of test. But I shook it anyways.

"Nice to meet you too. So you're taking Drama 1-2 as well?" oh man, I am horrible at small talk.

Katara shifted in her seat so she was facing me, "Obviously. Turns out my brother and I needed a fine arts credit, and what better BS class to take than drama? Take notes, do some skits, this should be an easy class."

"I dunno sis, Sifu Wu seems a little tough around the edges. Plus, I can't act. At all." Sokka said.

His sister smiled, "Oh trust me Sokka, you can act. Remember the time you cried so you didn't have to go to your martial arts lesson? Or the time you made up this whole story about how you lost your math book so you couldn't do your homework, all with a straight face. Or that time..."

"_Okay_ Katara. I think we get the picture." Sokka smiled in my direction, "So Toph. I'd have you tell us about yourself, but we have another member of our group who would feel out of the loop if we knew stuff he didn't. You want to sit with us at lunch and talk about it?"

Katara's face lifted up slightly, as if she was surprised to hear her brother invite me to their lunch table. I shrugged, "I suppose. It's not like I have anywhere else to go."

I guess my smile gave it away that I was being sarcastic, because Sokka lit up and patted me on the back, "Wonderful! I would say see you at lunch, but we still have two more classes before that..."

And a group sigh occurred. Okay, so my first day of school of all time was going pretty well. I met a what seems to be a cute guy who is escorting me to each class, his sister that seems nice enough, and I got invited to sit with them at lunch. It's just that, why did this day have to be going by in slow motion? I asked Sokka for the time, and when he said hat we still had 15 minutes left in class, I put my head on the desk and groaned. Katara laughed and also patted me on the back.

"Welcome to Ozai High kid."

---

A/N: Yeah...kinda random, I know. But the next chapter will be focused on their lunch hour, because that's going to be one of the most important chapters in this story. Also it will introduce some new characters! Well to Toph's life at least ;) Thanks for hanging in there with me guys, it's been a busy week!


	3. Today's Menu

Story: Day by Day

Chapter 3: Today's Menu

Show: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Pairings: Kataang/Tokka

Summary: It's lunch time, and it's about time the Gaang gets to know about Toph a little bit more. Who exactly was she, and what was this rich princess doing in a run down public school like Ozai High?

A/N: SOOOOOO Sorry about the hiatus!! I feel really bad...really I do. I hope this chapter makes up for it though!!

--

Sokka's POV

Finally, my favorite class began. Most people who know me know that yes, my favorite class of all time is: lunch hour.

A full forty-two minute period gives me just enough time to scarf down my lunch and mingle with a couple of pretty ladies, and of course Aang (who is in no way, shape, or form, a pretty lady). And Katara as well, but she kind of comes with the Aang package.

I had to show Toph around and explain, in detail, what the school lunches consisted of. Not that she needed my help, because the foul stench of rotten broccoli and soggy french fries filled her nostrils before I could warn her not to pick up a certain item.

She finally settled on a slice of pizza and a coke, and I grabbed the same thing. We then wandered through the crowded cafeteria. Tables were filled with every kind of teenage clique you could possible think of. The nerds, the jocks, the goths, the band geeks, the preps (which happens to be one of my favorite tables), and of course, our table. Which to me, doesn't really have a label. I mean, I love Aang like a brother, but he is a little nerd-ish. And my sister...even though she's got the looks and the body, she needs a major attitude adjustment. And then there's me, Sokka. I'm a good student/athlete/babe magnet/idea guy/advice giver of the group. And now that Toph's joined our group...well I'm not really sure what she is yet. I found myself staring at her glossy eyes, but stopped immediately after she almost looked back at me.

"So Toph," I said, breaking the ice, "What brings you to this lovely public school?"

She groaned, "You already asked me that. It was my choice. Being home-schooled is horribly lonely."

"Oh," I replied, shoving half of my pizza in my mouth, trying to hid my embarrassment.

"I use to be home-schooled by my grandpa," Aang added, "but then..." he paused. I knew that Aang's grandpa had died in an airplane crash about a year ago. There was a storm, so I heard, and the wind was so powerful it knocked a wing right off the plane. Poor kid, he hasn't been the same since. At least he gets to live with us, where I can watch him and talk to him whenever I want.

He cleared his throat as a cover up to his silence, "I moved in with Sokka and Katara, and they insisted I go to school. So this is my first year in one too."

Toph half-smiled and replied, "It's good to know I'm not the only one totally lost."

"Hey!" I exclaimed, "What am I, chopped liver?"

She wrinkled her nose, "Ew no. Don't talk about liver. We had that last night for dinner, and I almost threw up-"

"Anyways," Katara interrupted. I could tell she was loosing her appetite, "So we know your name, and we know that you chose to go to this school. How did you get your parents to submit to putting you into a public school after a life of home-schooling? I bet that wasn't easy."

"It was hard, but I managed." She bit into her piece of cheese pizza ravenously, as if she hadn't eaten for days. After she swallowed, she continued, "I just told him that I was a big girl now, and I wanted to be normal and have friends. He said he'd consider, then he talked to the principal about letting me in. Of course when Ozai smelled money on my dad's hand while shaking it for the first time, he obliged, after suggesting the school loves donations."

Katara raised one of her eyebrows, "So your dad bribed you to get into this school? But you could just register, it's not that hard. Unless, is that why you are two grades ahead?"

"Yeah, but don't go around school saying that. I'm sure certain underclassmen wouldn't appreciate that." I knew she was talking about Azula.

Aang was deep in thought, poking his green salad aimlessly with a plastic fork. "But you didn't just get promoted with a bribe," he stated, "you have the brains too, right? I mean, you wouldn't be able to survive the first few days without some knowledge."

Toph pointed her greasy finger towards Aang's general direction, "Right you are good sir. I could take the SATs blindfolded. Partially because I couldn't see the paper anyways." I snorted, and she grinned.

I could tell Katara was getting pissed by the fact that her once bowl of rice was now turned into a pile of mush. "Setting yourself a little high on your horse, are we?"

Burn. I tried hard to stifle a laugh.

"Not really. It's the truth." Toph crumbled up the paper that once held her pizza piece and chucked it at Katara's head, but missed. "I'm super smart," she said with a lisp. I started cracking up, along with Toph and Aang, but he stopped when he saw that Katara wasn't laughing.

"Don't worry Toph, she's just jealous that a blind girl is so much smarter and in a higher grade that her," I looked at her and added, "No offense."

"None taken." Toph laced her fingers together and propped her chin on top of them. "I guess you guys would also know how I can walk through the hallways without anyone's guidance."

We all leaned in towards her. She closed her eyes and nodded slightly, "I thought as much. But that's a story for another day." My jaw dropped. I felt like I had just watched the end of one of my favorite TV shows that was left off with a giant cliffhanger. As I opened my mouth to say something, the bell rang.

The rest of the school day went by painfully slowly, which is what I expected. I could tell Toph was having the same kind of feeling as I saw her bang her head forcefully against her locker.

"Hey, if you keep doing that you are going to get brain damage."

Toph stopped to look up to me. She smiled, "Perfect! A mental institute would be a nicer hell than my current living arrangements."

I frowned, "That bad?"

"Yeah."

I cleared my throat, "Sorry. Well, if you ever need anything, I'm just one phone call away."

She snorted, "You sound like a commercial. Ya know, 'The key to a better life is just one phone call away. Call now or else.'" Toph giggled, then her face became serious, "But yeah, thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"Good," I said, patting her on the back lightly. "So, what do you think about Ozai High? Is it what you expected?"

She half smiled and stared at the ground, as if searching for the right words. After a moment, she looked up, almost making eye contact and said, "No, definitely not what I expected."

"How so?" I asked.

And that was the first time that day I saw Toph Bei Fong smile genuinely. She flashed her genuine smile and said softly, "I made a friend."

Ending A/N: D'aww. XD Toph made a friend! But come on guys. Toph was a very lonely 12 year old in the show, and then she gets 4 best friends all of a sudden? I'm jealous. I kind of wrote this chapter like this, because I guess this is how I wanted my first day of my junior year to go. It was totally the opposite actually. But...that's not the point. -cough- Again, sorry for the obnoxiously long wait! And the obnoxiously short chapter. Please forgive me...no don't throw that conspicuously placed piece of furniture at me! -holds up Toph as a shield-

OH. And this story DOES have a plot...I SWEAR. R+R pwuezz...you guys keep me motivated!


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